Clinical Study

Ear, Nose & Throat Journal

1–7
Predictors of Taste Dysfunction and Its ª The Author(s) 2021
Article reuse guidelines:
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Severity Among Patients With Chronic DOI: 10.1177/01455613211019708
journals.sagepub.com/home/ear
Kidney Disease

Tajudeen Yusuf, MBBS, FWACS, FMCORL1, Yemi R. Raji, MBChB, MSc, FMCP2,
Taye J. Lasisi, BDS, MSc FMCDS, FWACS, PhD3,
Adekunle Daniel, MBBS, FWACS4, O. T. Bamidele, MBBS, FWACP5,
Ayotunde J. Fasunla, MBChB, MSc, MD, FWACS, FMCORL, FACS4, and
Akeem. O. Lasisi, MBChB, MD, FWACS, FMCORL4

Abstract
Background: Patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) often complain of taste dysfunction. The prevalent taste dysfunction
among patients with CKD predisposes them to malnutrition, poor quality of life, and worsen disease prognoses. To appropriately
treat the taste dysfunction in this group of patients, it’s imperative that factors that predict taste dysfunction and its severity are
identified for prompt treatment. Aim: To identify factors associated with taste dysfunction and its severity among patients with
CKD. Materials and Methods: This was a hospital-based case–control study of adult patients with CKD at the University
College Hospital, Ibadan, Nigeria. The control group was made up of age- and gender-matched healthy volunteers with no clinical
and laboratory evidence of CKD. Relevant clinical and social data obtained include demographics, symptoms, and signs of taste
dysfunction and its risk factors. The 4 basic taste modalities namely sweet, sour, bitter, and salt taste senses of the participants
were tested with validated ‘‘taste strips.’’ Factors that predict taste dysfunction were identified among the spectrum of the disease.
Results: There were 100 patients with CKD and 100 healthy controls, age ranges between 19 and 86 years (mean + standard
deviation [SD] ¼ 46.3 + 13.9 years) and 20 and 85 years (mean + SD ¼ 43.4 + 14.9 years), respectively. There was no
statistically significant difference between cases and control gender distribution (P ¼ .57). Hypogeusia was found in 27.0% of
patients with CKD, while total taste function score of all the control was within normal range. Increasing duration of CKD was
identified as a predictor of taste dysfunction among patients with CKD (odds ratio: 4.889, P ¼ .038). The stages of CKD had no
statistically significant relationship with the severity of taste dysfunction (P ¼ .629). Conclusion: The prevalence of taste
dysfunction among patients with CKD was high and this showed significant correlation with increasing duration of CKD; in
contrast, the severity of CKD is not significant in the development of taste dysfunction.

Keywords
taste dysfunction, chronic kidney disease, taste strip, predictors 1 Department of Otorhinolaryngology, University College Hospital, Ibadan,
Oyo State, Nigeria
2
Nephrology Unit, Department of Medicine, College of Medicine, University of
Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria
Introduction 3
Department of Physiology/Oral Pathology, College of Medicine, University
The oral cavity is the first part of the alimentary tract and of Ibadan, Nigeria
4
Department of Otorhinolaryngology, College of Medicine, University
houses the teeth, tongue, and openings of major and minor
of Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria
salivary glands that help in mastication, taste, swallowing, and 5
Department of Chemical Pathology, University College Hospital, Ibadan, Oyo
digestion of some classes of food. Taste is the chemical stimu- State, Nigeria
lation of taste receptor cells in the oral cavity perceived as the Received: March 15, 2021; revised: April 29, 2021; accepted: May 3, 2021
primary tastes of sweet, sour, salty, bitter, and umami.1 Appre-
ciation of taste is one of the factors that gives satisfaction Corresponding Author:
Akeem. O. Lasisi, MBChB, MD, FWACS, FMCORL, Department of
derived from eating and when it is defective may lead to aver- Otorhinolaryngology, College of Medicine, University of Ibadan, Oyo State,
sion for food. Impairment of taste can be devastating to a Nigeria.
patient since it does not only affect the ability to enjoy food Email: akeemlasisi@gmail.com

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(https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits non-commercial use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission
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2 Ear, Nose & Throat Journal
products but also alter food choices and patterns of consump-
tion, thereby resulting in weight loss or weight gain, and other
forms of malnutrition.2 Defective taste function among patients
with chronic kidney disease (CKD) was implicated as the cause
of malnutrition among them.3
Previous studies4-6 reported that patients with CKD have
high prevalence of taste dysfunction through several mechan-
isms postulated that include dry mouth, tongue coating, muco-
sal inflammation, or oral ulceration. The features are common
findings in patients with CKD7 and might have contributed to
taste disorder in them. Uremia was also suggested to cause taste
dysfunction due to its effect on the taste bud preventing its
regeneration and also its effect on the nerves of taste. Other
mechanisms underlying taste dysfunction that have been
reported include medication usage, changes in salivary compo-
sition, differences in dietary intake, and nutritional status,
including zinc deficiency.2,4,5,6,8
The impact of taste dysfunction is enormous on the patient’s
outcomes, survival, and the overall reduced quality of life.
However, little attention is often paid to taste dysfunction and
its risk factors during routine patient evaluations. The benefits
of taste assessment, prompt identification of taste dysfunction,
and treatment of the risk factors during routine clinical encoun-
ters cannot be overemphasized. These benefits include ade-
quate nutrition, retarding progression of kidney disease,
improved survival, and quality of life.
Meanwhile, the severity of taste dysfunction among healthy
population has been shown to be worse among males.9-11 Liu
et al9 observed that the prevalence of taste dysfunction doesn’t
increase with aging in contrast to the reports by Landis et al10
and Doty et al.11 Racial or ethnic variation has been associated
with taste disorders and it strongly suggests genetic predisposi-
tion to taste disorder.9,12 These findings have not been con-
firmed or refuted among patients with CKD, who often have
taste disorder. Middleton and Allman-Farinelli6 found an
inverse correlation between age and sweet taste but found no
correlation between severity of CKD and taste threshold.
The factors that been putatively considered to be associated
with development of taste disorders among patients with CKD
include age, gender, oral cavity/oropharyngeal lesion, stages of
CKD, nutritional status (body mass index [BMI]), hemoglobin
concentration (packed cell volume [PCV]), treatment modal-
ities, and duration of illness. Prompt identification and treat-
ment of risk factors predicting taste dysfunction and its severity
among patients with CKD will provide more insight into the
pathophysiology of taste disorder in them, in addition to
providing preventable and treatable options for taste dysfunction
in CKD. This study therefore aim to determine the predictors of
taste disorder and its severity among patients with CKD.
Methods
Study Population
The method has been fully described in our previous publica-
tion on assessment of olfactory dysfunction, and only a
summary is provided in the article.13 This was a hospital-
based case–control study conducted at the Medical Outpatient
clinic; medical wards; and ear, nose and throat clinic of the
University College Hospital, Ibadan. Consenting adult patients
(18 years) with clinical and laboratory diagnosis of CKD
defined as estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR)
< 60 mL/min/1.73 m2 with or without albuminuria, while the
controls were healthy volunteers who were age- and gender-
matched individuals with no clinical or laboratory evidence of
CKD. Excluded from the study were individuals with known
taste dysfunction from childhood, those with diabetes mellitus,
known thyroid hormone disorder, known dysfunction of smell,
those having chronic suppurative otitis media, previous history
of smoking, or current smoker.
Informed Consent
Written informed consent was obtained from all participants after
the study and its purpose have been fully explained to them.
Ethical Approval
Ethical approval was sought and obtained from the Joint ethics
committee of the University of Ibadan/University College Hos-
pital with the approval number UI/EC/18/0536.
Study Procedure
Interviewer’s assisted questionnaire was administered on all
participants to obtain relevant data including participants’
sociodemographic data, duration of ailment, medical history,
symptomatology of CKD, symptoms of taste dysfunction and
its severity, primary causes of CKD, treatment modalities for
CKD, and duration of CKD. Blood samples were collected to
determine serum creatinine which was used to calculate the
eGFR of each participant, using the CKD-EPI equation. Height
and weight of the participants were measured and BMI was
calculated. The oral examination findings of the participants
were also documented, and the taste function was assessed with
taste strips (Burghart) which have been previously validated
and used for the assessment of taste function among Nigerian
population.14
The strips contained 4 basic taste (sweet, sour, salty, bitter)
each in 4 different concentrations, impregnated at 1 end with
0.05, 0.1, 0.2, or 0.4 g/mL of sucrose (sweet taste); 0.05, 0.09,
0.165, or 0.3 g/mL of citric acid (sour taste); 0.016, 0.04, 0.1, or
0.25 g/mL of sodium chloride (salty taste); or 0.0004, 0.0009,
0.0024, or 0.006 g/mL of quinine hydrochloride (bitter taste) in
increasing order. Plain strips with no tastants impregnated in
them were also used to determine the possibility of phantogeu-
sia or patients confabulating.15 The strips were placed in the
center of the anterior two-third of the extended tongue at about
1.5 cm from the tip of the tongue and participants were then
asked to close their mouth for whole mouth testing in a total of
18 trials. Before each administration of a strip, the mouth was
rinsed with water. The tastes were presented in order of
Yusuf et al
increasing concentrations, starting with the lowest concentra-
tion until patient could appreciate the taste or fails to appreciate
it in the strips with highest concentration for each of the taste
modalities and they were scored appropriately; no score was
allotted to the blank strips.
Each of the 2 sequences of 18 taste strips (4 concentrations
of each taste quality plus 2 blanks) were applied in a pseudor-
andomized order. While closing the mouth over the taste strip
and with or without tongue movement within the closed mouth
patients were asked to identify the taste from a list of 5 descrip-
tors, that is, sweet, sour, salty, bitter, and no taste (multiple
forced choice). Gustatory function was obtained by the number
of correctly identified taste added up to a ‘‘taste score,’’10,15
lowest concentration was 4 points, the highest concentration
was 1 point, while failure to appreciate strips with highest
concentration was 0. Therefore, minimum score of 0 and max-
imum of 16 could be obtained and the whole testing procedure
for the 4 tastants required about 30 minutes.
Definition of terms. The GFR was graded as stage 1 CKD  90,
stage 2 CKD 60 to 89, stage 3 CKD 30 to 59, stage 4 CKD 15 to
29, and stage 5 CKD (end-stage chronic kidney disease) <15.16
Body mass index was calculated using this equation for BMI,
BMI ¼ weight (kg)/height (m)2, which applies equally to men
and women. Body mass index was categorized17 as under-
weight ¼ <18.5, normal ¼ 18.5 to 24.9, overweight ¼ 25.0
to 29.9, and obesity ¼ 30.0 to >40. While taste was graded as
taste score normal values defined as ‘‘Taste Strip’’ scores above
the 10th percentile of a group of healthy population.15 Normo-
geusia was total taste score 9, hypogeusia was <9, while
ageusia was 0. Normogeusia for salt, sour,and sweet was taste
score >/¼ 2 while for bitter it was assigned a taste score of 1.
Hypogeusia was defined as taste score of 1 or falseidentifica-
tion taste modalities (salt, sour, and sweet but only false while
for bitter only false identification was used to define it. Ageusia
was 0 for all taste modalities.15
Statistical Analysis
Data obtained were entered and analyzed using statistical pack-
age (IBM-SPSS statistic, version 22). Demographic variables
were represented using tables, while qualitative sociodemo-
graphic characteristics of patients with CKD and healthy con-
trols were compared using chi-square tests.
Association between eGFR (stages of CKD) and severity of
taste dysfunction was determined using f tests. Factors associ-
ated with taste dysfunction were determined using analysis of
variance for categorical variables or correlation for continuous
variables, binary logistic regression was used to determine pre-
dictor variables. Level of statistical significance was set at
P value of <.05.
Results
There were 100 patients with CKD and 100 age- and gender-
matched healthy controls. The age ranged between 19 and 86
3
Table 1. Sociodemographic and Clinical Characteristics of
Participants.
Case Control
Continuous variables Mean (SD) Mean (SD) t test P value
Age (years) 46.3 (13.9) 43.4 (14.9) 1.414 .159
Age range (years) 19-86 20-85
Mean eGFR (mL/min/ 23.7 122.8 20.848 .001
1.73 m2)
Body mass index (kg/m2) 23.4 (4.7) 25.1 (4.5) 2.649 .009
Demographic data for categorical data w2 test P value
Sex N (%) N (%) 0.322 .570
Male (n ¼ 108) 56 (56.0) 52 (52.0)
Female (n ¼ 92) 44 (44.0) 48 (48.0)
Abbreviations: eGFR, estimated glomerular filtration rate; SD, standard
deviation.
and 20 and 85 years, respectively, while the mean age (standard
deviation) were 46.3 (13.9) and 43.4 (14.9) years, respectively
(Table 1). There were 56 males and 44 females among the
cases, while the control had 52 males and 48 females. There
was no statistically significant difference between cases and
control gender distribution (P ¼ .57). The mean BMI of cases,
23.4 + 4.7 kg/m2, was significantly lower than that of the
controls, 25.1 + 4.5 kg/m2 (P ¼ .009; Table 1).
The cases consisted of 4 (4%) stage 1 CKD, 8 (8%) stage
2 CKD, 19 (19%) stage 3 CKD, 22 (22%) stage 4 CKD, and
47 (47%) stage 5, while all the control had eGFR  90 (normal)
as shown in Figure 1.
Taste dysfunction was found in 27 (27.0%) cases, all were
hypogeusia (total taste score <9, >0; Figure 2), while the pre-
valence of taste dysfunction among the control was 0.0%, all
had total taste score > 9 (normogeusia).
There was no significant relationship between age and
taste function score among patients with CKD as shown
in Table 2 (P ¼ .122). However, significant relationship
between age and taste function score was found among the
control as shown in Table 3 (P ¼.0001). The association
between age and taste function score among the control was
further analyzed using post hoc test, this confirmed that the
age-group 55 years was responsible for the significant
taste score reduction among the control as shown in
Table 4.
Gender of both the patients with CKD and the controls
had no significant relationship with taste dysfunction among
them (t ¼ 0.751, P ¼ .388; t ¼ 0.304, P ¼ .762, respec-
tively). Oral cavity and oropharyngeal lesions were seen
only in 2 patients, 1 has whitish tongue coating lesion, the
other has multiple ulcers in the oral cavity. These are too
small for any analysis.
Stages of CKD have no significant association with taste
dysfunction among patients with CKD. The relationship
between stages of CKD and severity of taste dysfunction was
analyzed in 2 different forms using 2 staging system of CKD.
The first was the conventional eGFR staging system which
has 5 stages of the CKD, that is, stages 1 to 5, while the
4 Ear, Nose & Throat Journal

control case
100
100
90
Percentage of respondent(%)
80
70
60
47
50
40
30 22
19
20
8
10 4
0 0 0 0
0
> Or =90 60-89 Mildly 30-59 15-29 Severely <15 End Stage
Normalor High Decreased Moderately Decreased
Decreased
Stages of CKD

Figure 1. Distribution of cases and control based on eGFR. eGFR indicates estimated glomerular filtration rate.

Table 3. Age and Taste Function Scores Among Control.a

Score of taste function

Hypogeusia 27.0% Number
Age group of patients Mean + SD Range f test P value

18-34 31 14.0 + 1.5 11.0-16.0

35-54 50 13.6 + 1.3 11.0-16.0 11.532 .0001
Ageusia, 0, 0% 55 19 12.1 + 1.4 10.0-16.0
Total 100 13.4 + 1.5 10.0-16.0

Normogeusia, Abbreviation: SD, standard deviation.

a
73.0% N ¼ 100.

Table 4. Dependent Variable: Post Hoc Multiple Comparison of Total

Taste Score.
Figure 2. Distribution of taste function among the cases (total taste
(I) Age (J) Age Mean difference
score, ie, the sum of the scores of each of the 4 taste modalities; >9
Test statistic group_taste group (I  J) P value
¼ normogeusia, <9, >0 ¼ hypogeusia, 0 ¼ ageusia).
Tukey HSD 15-34 35-54 0.47226 .309
Table 2. Age and Taste Function Scores Among Patients With CKD. a 55 1.92699 .000
35-54 15-34 0.47226 .309
Score of taste function 55 1.45474 .001
Number 55 15-34 1.92699 .000
Age group of patients Mean + SD Range f test P value 35-54 1.45474 .001
Bonferroni 15-34 35-54 0.47226 .433
18-34 19 11.2 + 3.4 2.0-15.0 55 1.92699 .000
35-54 56 9.4 + 3.4 2.0-15.0 2.154 .122 35-54 15-34 0.47226 .433
55 25 9.5 + 2.6 4.0-14.0 55 1.45474 .001
Total 100 9.8 + 3.3 2.0-15 55 15-34 1.92699 .000
Abbreviations: CKD, chronic kidney disease; SD, standard deviation.
35-54 1.45474 .001
a
N ¼ 100.

second categorized patients with CKD based on urine albu- been proven to have any statistically significant relationship
min creatinine ratio (ACR) into 3 categories, that is, cate- with severity of taste dysfunction, eGFR (f ¼ 2.247, P ¼ .070)
gories 1 to 3. The severity of CKD in both methods has not and ACR (f ¼ 0.228, P ¼ .652).
Yusuf et al 5

Table 5. Duration of CKD and Taste Function Score Among Patients was 28.0 + 7.4 and 26.2 + 7.2, respectively. Treatment mod-
With CKD. alities including observation, medication, dialysis, and renal
Duration of Score of taste function
transplantation show no relationship with taste dysfunction in
treatment Number patients with CKD. (f ¼ 0.243, P ¼ .866).
(months) of patients Mean + SD Range f test P value

1 25 12.0 + 3.2 3.0-15.0 Discussion

2-6 33 9.5 + 2.9 2.0-14.0 3.015 .022
This study has revealed high prevalence of taste dysfunction
7-12 10 10.3 + 2.9 4.0-14.0
13-24 12 8.5 + 4.4 2.0-15.0 among patients with CKD and insignificant modality dysfunc-
>24 20 9.5 + 4.0 2.0-15.0 tions among the control group. The duration of CKD was iden-
Total 100 9.8 + 3.3 2.0-15.0 tified as an important factor that predicts taste dysfunction in
patients with CKD while age predicted taste dysfunction
Abbreviations: CKD, chronic kidney disease; SD, standard deviation.
among the controls.
In this study, there was no statistically significant associa-
Table 6. Predictors of Taste Dysfunction in CKD. tion between advancing age and taste disorder among patients
with CKD, although the proportion of taste dysfunction among
Variables Categories df OR 95% CI P value older participants was higher than those in the younger age-
group. Generally, it is believed that aging affects taste percep-
Age (years) 18-34 Reference
35-54 1 3.400 0.703-16.4 .128 tion and this has been shown to be true in this study among
>55 1 4.781 0.893-25.6 .068 healthy population similar to previous studies.10,18,19 Although
BMI Normal Reference the taste scores of the controls were within normal range (nor-
Underweight 1 0.588 0.131-2.638 .488 mogeusia), there was still significant reduction in taste scores
Overweight 1 1.333 0.237-7.510 .744 among them with aging. However, some studies did not report
Obesity 1 0.857 0.124-5.944 .876 any association between increasing age and taste dysfunction.9
Gender Gender 1 1.842 0.732-4.634 .194
The larger proportion of cases with taste dysfunction was
PCV Normal reference
Mild 1 2.000 0.409-9.785 .392 males, although males have slightly larger population than
Moderate 1 2.769 0.877-8.746 .083 females in this study. However, the difference was not statis-
Severe 1 1.273 0.403-4.021 .0681 tically significant. Females have been adjudged to have better
Stage of CKD Stage 1 (> or ¼90) Reference taste perception and this has been reported in previous stud-
Stage 2 (60-89) 1 0.646 0.062-6.719 .714 ies.10,15 Liu et al9 and Bhattacharyya and Kepnes19 could not
Stage 3 (30-59) 1 0.277 0.031-2.450 .248 prove that females have better taste perception. These can be
Stage 4 (15-29) 1 0.517 0.147-1.816 .303
compared to the finding in this study where gender of both the
Stage 5 (<15) 1 0.570 0.178-1.828 .344
Duration 1 Reference patients with CKD and the control has no significant influence
of CKD 2-6 1 0.205 0.659-11.480 .165 on their taste perception.
7-12 1 1.833 0.257-13-063 .545 Oral cavity and oropharyngeal lesions were not observed to
13-24 1 5.238 0.991-27.686 .051 be associated with taste dysfunction in this study, in addition,
>24 1 4.889 1.089-21.950 .038 oral cavity or oropharyngeal lesion was not prevalence among
Abbreviations: BMI, body mass index; CKD, chronic kidney disease; OR, odds
patients with CKD in this study and obviously cannot be con-
ratio; PCV, packed cell volume. sidered a predictor of taste dysfunction. Previous studies7 also
Significant value for is set at 0.05. reported lesions in oral cavity and oropharynx to be predictive
of severity of CKD but not a predictor of taste dysfunction
among patients with CKD.
The duration of CKD shows significant association with There was no established relationship between stages of
taste dysfunction among the patients with CKD, considering CKD or severity of renal failure and taste dysfunction in
the duration in less than 1 month, 2 to 6 months, 7 months to this study. The stages of CKD were considered in 2 forms,
1 year, 1 year up to 2 years, and greater than 2 years as shown in firstly using the patients eGFR with 5 stages and secondly
Table 6 (f ¼ 3.015, P ¼ .022). The duration of CKD >24 months using the ACR with 3 groups.20 Despite the varieties of
was significant as a predictor of taste dysfunction among CKD stages in this study, the severity of taste dysfunction
patients with CKD (odds ratio [OR]: 4.889, P ¼ .038) as shown in all the stages was the same (hypogeusia) and the preva-
in Table 5. lence among each stages almost directly proportion to their
Body mass index has no significant relationship with taste population sizes.
dysfunction among patients with CKD, this has been shown Only few studies have assessed the correlation between
with statistical analysis (f ¼ 0.883, P ¼ .453; Table 5). There stages of CKD and severity of taste dysfunction in adults with
was no statistically significant difference in the mean value CKD. Finding in this study can be compared to a study by Kim
of PCV of patients with CKD with normogeusia and those et al21 that reported no correlation between severity of salty
with hypogeusia (P ¼ .264). The mean PCV of the 2 groups taste dysfunction and stages of CKD. Also, Middleton and
6 Ear, Nose & Throat Journal
Allman-Farinelli6 found no correlation between serum urea and
creatinine (CKD biochemical parameters) and taste threshold.
However, Armstrong et al22 reported positive correlation
between stages of CKD (eGFR) and severity of taste dysfunc-
tion, but it was found among children with CKD. Similar to
findings in this study, Armstrong et al22 also reported incidence
of taste dysfunction among children in early stages of CKD.
Body mass index is an indirect measure of nourishment
among patients with CKD. Although there was significant dif-
ference between the BMI of patients with CKD and healthy
controls, majority of the cases still had the normal BMI cate-
gories, so also were the cases with the taste dysfunction. The
index study observed no association between BMI or nutri-
tional status of patients with CKD and taste dysfunction
among both patients with CKD and the control. This can be
compared to report by Armstrong et al22 that observed no
association between nutritional status (BMI) of children with
CKD and taste dysfunction in them. This is in contrast to
report from previous other studies23,24 where taste dysfunc-
tion was associated with malnutrition, however the evaluation
of nutritional status did not only involve BMI but also other
methods including biochemical markers.
The packed cell volume is a measure of hemoglobin concen-
tration of the patients with CKD, this study observed no associ-
ation between taste dysfunction and PCV. However, the impact of
abnormal taste function can affect the intake of the various hemo-
poietic factors such as iron, folic acid, vitamin C, and vitamin B
complex, thus resulting in anemia which is a common finding
among patients with CKD. Conversely, patients with severe ane-
mia may have anorexia and altered taste.
Lifestyle modifications, medication, hemodialysis, and
renal transplantation were the modalities of treatment for
patients with CKD in this study, and they have shown no asso-
ciation with taste dysfunction. No single treatment modality
has an association with taste dysfunction among patients with
CKD. Unlike this study, Middleton and Allman-Farinelli6
reported taste affectation among hemodialysis patients espe-
cially the sweet and sour taste while Kusaba et al8 reported
impaired salt taste among patients with CKD on diuretics. This
may be due to uneven distribution of patients with CKD across
the different treatment modalities or perhaps due to different
method of taste assessment in the comparative studies.
Increasing duration of CKD was found to be a predictor of
taste dysfunction among patients with CKD. Larger proportion
of patients with CKD duration greater than 24 months had taste
dysfunction compared to the proportion of patients with taste
dysfunction in the shorter duration of CKD. Statistically, it was
proven that duration of CKD greater than 24 months could
predict taste dysfunction among patients with CKD by a factor
of 5 (OR: 4.887). This can be compared to study by Pechalova
et al,25 where the taste dysfunction among patients with CKD
was subjectively assessed and it was reported that the duration
of CKD does not affect taste perception but the duration of
CKD treatment does. Although, some of these studiesemployed
subjective assessment of taste and this subjectivity made them
unreliable.9,26
The limitation of this study was the inability to recruit equal
proportion of CKD stages because most of patients seen at the
hospital were those in advanced stages of CKD. This study
used patients with CKD as subjects similar to our earlier
study13; however, some considerations in inclusion and exclu-
sion criteria, as stated above, resulted in some differences in the
subject population used for the 2 studies.
Conclusion
The prevalence of taste dysfunction among patients with CKD
in this study was 27.0%. Increasing duration of CKD was iden-
tified as a predictor of taste dysfunction among patients with
CKD while increasing age was found to predict taste dysfunc-
tion among the healthy controls. Incorporation of assessment of
taste function and identification and treatments of its predictors
in the routine clinical encounter will improve the quality of life
and patients’ outcomes.
Declaration of Conflicting Interests
The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to
the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
Funding
The author(s) received no financial support for the research, author-
ship, and/or publication of this article.
ORCID iD
Akeem. O. Lasisi https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4439-653X
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